FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a communications and alarm system for providing secure and reliable patient monitoring and also for monitoring the operational status of various types of medical equipment such as, but not limited to, intravenous feeding devices, defibrillators, ventilators, EKG, EEG and pulse monitors. The equipment used with the present system includes emergency equipment employed in a pre-hospital setting, such as in ambulances or at the site of accidents; equipment in post-hospital settings, such as in a patient's home, in a nursing home, in a hospice, in a doctor's office, in a clinic or at medical teaching institutions and equipment used in the hospital such as in the recovery room or in the operating room.
The invention is capable of providing a means for communicating medical information over long distances and for immediately summoning the appropriate medical and hospital personnel to the patient in need of help. The invention is silent and unobservable to the patient to prevent unnecessary stress or trauma. The system can also reduce the stress level of the medical and hospital staff and other patients. Another aspect of the present invention is to provide monitoring equipment that can be conveniently worn on medical personnel in order to foster communications that indicate more information to the user and for hospital administrators. A further aspect of the invention is to provide for a communications system that enables medical personnel to remotely test the operational status of medical equipment and provide better staffing management for medical emergencies communicated by the system.